Report: Saudis Rejected Requests By Abbas To Visit Prior To Biden

Saudi Arabia rebuffed several requests from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to visit the kingdom prior to US President Joe Biden’s visit to the region, Channel 12 News reported last week.

After repeatedly refusing a visit, the Saudis finally agreed to allow Abbas a brief phone call with King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.

Saudi Arabia isn’t the only country frustrated with the Palestinian Authority. Walla reported last week that the relationship between the PA and the United Arab Emirates is at a low point. According to the report, the Emirati donation of $25 million to the East Jerusalem Hospital Network announced by Biden on Friday “is a way for the UAE to help Palestinians and bypass the PA.”

Most Arab states have stopped providing the Palestinians with financial aid, even as Biden increases US aid, with the PA now almost completely dependent on US and European financial aid.

Palestinian Authority (PA) Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh recently said that apart from Algeria, Arab countries have stopped funding the PA. Although Shtayyeh did not explain the reason for the cessation of aid, Arab affairs analyst Khaled Abu Toameh said that apart from Arab leaders’ frustration with the PA’s corruption and incompetence, the cessation of aid is due to the fact that the PA shot itself in the foot by accusing the UAE, Bahrain and Sudan of “betraying” the Palestinians by normalizing ties with Israel.

Earlier this year, a prominent Kuwaiti journalist, Ahmed Al-Jarallah, wrote about why many Arabs are fed up with the Palestinians.

“We are the only ones who rescued them [Palestinians] in 1970 when they launched their war on Jordan,” he began. “The late Sheikh Saad Al-Abdullah evacuated their leader Yasser Arafat from Amman. The Arabian Gulf states, led by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, boycotted oil export to the western countries during the 1973 [Israel-Arab] war.”

“Furthermore, Riyadh presented two initiatives to solve the conflict. Despite their [Palestinians’] support of Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait and their participation in acts of intimidation, abuse and killing against Kuwaiti citizens, the Gulf states continue to support the Palestinians.

“All of this is just the tip of the iceberg of what the Gulf states and their people offered to the Palestinians, who were and still are ungrateful.”